


treacherous

by fauxriver



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Whump, Whump, don't worry i like a happy ending, it's just going to take us a hot minute to get there lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:54:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26864731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauxriver/pseuds/fauxriver
Summary: On a case in Ohio, JJ and Emily are abducted by a sadistic unsub. It's going to take everything they've got to survive this one.Written as a part of Whumptober 2020.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	treacherous

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm pretty new to writing so please let me know if you catch any glaring errors or spots that need improvement. This fic is a work-in-progress, so I'd also love to know what you might want to see going forward! That being said, please pay attention to the warnings and tags, as I will update them as necessary. Happy reading xx

JJ had woken up first. While not familiar with her current surroundings, the blonde immediately recognized her predicament based on the ice-cold concrete pressing against her side, as well as the fact that her head was absolutely spinning. Foolishly she tried to sit up, and her whole body revolted against the idea. She made it no further than pushing herself up on her elbows when her eyes went black and her stomach turned with nausea. With a groan she laid herself back down and took in several deep breaths. 

The team had been working on a case in Ohio. This particular unsub’s M.O. was kidnapping women in pairs, then torturing them for weeks until they finally succumbed to their injuries. Knowing this, Agents Jennifer Jareau and Emily Prentiss had been exercising more caution than usual while pursuing this case.

It wasn’t enough. 

The blonde let her thoughts wander to her last coherent memory. She had been conducting an interview at a house outside the city… one that belonged to the most recent victims’ father (they had been sisters). She and Emily left the house, got back into the SUV, and then what? 

Wait, _Emily?_

JJ’s eyes flew open and fell onto the brunette laying about three feet from her, still unconscious. With immense effort, JJ pulled herself up to her elbows once again, this time managing to keep her wits about her. Her muscles strained as she crawled over to Emily, her clammy skin sticking to the icy concrete floor. 

“Emily! Emily it’s JJ please wake up,” she whispered with urgency as she shook the older woman’s shoulder. Emily’s eyes squinted further closed as she shifted her head towards JJ’s voice. 

“What…” 

The blonde smoothed Emily’s hair out of her eyes, then continued to tenderly stroke her cold cheek. “Hey. Take it slow. I’m not sure where we are, but it’s just the two of us here, as far as I can tell. I don’t remember what happened, but the best I can figure is we were getting too close to solving this case, and the unsub took us while he had a chance.”

Emily slowly opened her eyes to the world. The first thing she saw was JJ’s relieved smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back. A chill ran down her spine as she took in her surroundings. It wasn’t too far off from a high-security prison cell. The room was small, maybe ten by ten, and would be pitch-black if not for the single, dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There wasn’t even any light coming from the small window in the door at the far end of the room. An ancient-looking toilet and sink fixture stood unceremoniously near her feet. The air smelled stale, as if anyone who had previously occupied this space hadn’t seen a shower for a long time. 

The older woman closed her eyes once more as a deep shiver ran down her spine. She laid there for a moment to wrack her brain, hoping to fill in the blonde’s missing memories. “We were leaving Mr. Lorel’s house,” she said, her voice more scratchy from sleep than she had been expecting. “We walked to the car, and I got in the driver’s seat. I turned back to the house just before taking off, and that’s when I saw a man peeking around from the side of the house. I thought it was suspicious, and I was about to point him out to you when I heard you say my name. You sounded like you were drunk. I barely had time to turn myself back toward you when I felt my own dizziness. That’s the last thing I can remember.”

JJ nodded her head. She can’t recall quite as much, but it does correlate with what she can remember. “Do you think you saw the unsub?” 

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” Emily groaned as she tried to drag herself into a sitting position. 

JJ slowly stood up once she’d felt the lightheadedness had finally passed. Satisfied with her success, she walked over to the door. Locked, of course. No surprise there. It was worth a shot though, the blonde surmised as she paced around the room, knocking on the walls, looking for, well, anything really. No such luck. Defeated, JJ wandered back over to Emily, who had pulled herself up against the farthest wall from the door. She slumped down the wall next to her best friend, then reached for the brunette’s hand and placed it in one of her own. Emily gave a reassuring squeeze in response. They were both remaining remarkably calm, but they had each laid eyes on the prior victims’ mutilated bodies at the M.E.’s office earlier that day, and the gravity of their desperate situation was heavy in each of their minds. 

There was no way to know how long it had been since their disappearance, but the two agents agreed that the rest of the BAU would have had to notice their absence by now. After all, Hotch was requiring hourly check-ins from them both until they had this unsub in custody. The women took further comfort in the fact that if they really had been getting close to catching this guy, their team would be able to fill in the missing pieces in no time.

No more than an hour had passed since the agents had awoken when suddenly the door flew open, slamming loudly against the adjacent wall. Light flooded the small room, blinding the captives who had become accustom to the dim lighting. 

“Y-you know, you wouldn’t be here if you’d just left me alone,” a man’s voice exclaimed. 

As her eyes adjusted, Emily was able to identify the silhouette as the same man she saw at the Lorels’ house. She also noted in his hands a serrated knife that flew about as he gestured wildly when speaking. “I already had a set of cute college roommates picked out for my next act,” he continued with a manic giggle, “a blonde and a brunette, just like yourselves! Imagine that!”

Both women slowly rose to their feet as he spoke, holding their hands out in front of them. The man was twitchy, his pacing frantic: more than the tiny room could have possibly allowed. They needed to proceed with caution; any sudden move may set him off. Plus, standing at almost a foot taller than the agents and twice as muscular, they likely didn’t stand a chance in a fight, even if he wasn’t wielding a sharp object. 

“What’s your name?” JJ tried, hoping to get a better idea of his mental state.

For all of his jittery movements, the man became still as stone when JJ asked her question, his eyes staring directly into hers. 

A beat passed, and then two, before he calmly sauntered over into her personal space, knife at his side, never breaking eye contact. It was a complete 180 from his erratic behavior only moments ago. 

“My name is Damien,” he growled. His lips curved up into a predatory smirk as he finally pulled his eyes away from JJ’s, only to slowly look her from head to toe. “But all my girls call me Sir. You will too.” 

Emily let out an audible gasp as Damien jerked the knife up against JJ’s neck. To the blonde’s credit, she barely flinched. “And we are going to have so much fun.”

With his free hand, Damien reached into his back pocket. 

“You,” he barked, turning his head slightly to the right. There Emily stood with her hands still out in front of her, her lips slightly parted and her eyebrows creased with concern. He threw something at her feet that clanged and rattled when it hit the concrete as he turned his attention back to JJ. Emily immediately recognized the object in question as the FBI-issued handcuffs that she has carried on her person for years. “Shackle her to that bar up there. Tight.”

Emily briefly assessed whether she had any better options than further immobilizing her friend, but ultimately the best chance they had at this point was to do what the unsub said and hope the team arrives soon. 

“Alright,” she agreed, opting for a soft, but firm, tone of voice. “I’m going to bend down now pick up the handcuffs. Agent, I’m going to need you to slowly lift your arms up. Can you do that?”

JJ was grateful her partner had the forethought to not give the unsub any information he might not already have, including their names. The younger woman raised her eyebrows in question at Damien, and he gave a single, quick nod of his head. Keeping her own eyes locked on his, she did as Emily had asked. He kept the knife firmly pressed to JJ’s neck until he was satisfied that the woman’s wrists were secured to the pipe that ran above their heads and crossed the center of the room, and Emily had once again backed away.

As he finally lowered the knife, JJ let out a breath she didn’t realized she’d been holding. She risked another glance over to Emily, with apprehension written all over her face. Emily hid her own fear as best as she could, and instead offered her friend a steady nod, hoping to send her every ounce of strength she had.

JJ hadn’t missed the older agent’s swift turn-of-face, but appreciated her encouragement nonetheless. After all, they’d both be fools not to steady themselves for whatever this unsub had planned for JJ.

Thus, it surprised them both a great deal when Damien turned his attention over to the corner of the room that Emily currently occupied.

“Now that one of you is tied up, the real fun can begin.”

The cool calmness that had previously taken over the man has since disappeared, and he was back to moving about with erratic urgency. The women once again looked at each other, this time not bothering to hide their confusion and bewilderment. 

“The rules are simple. When two of us are having fun, the other stays quiet. Got it?”

“Slow down, Damien, maybe we can—” Emily was cut off by Damien’s knife against her throat. 

“I s-said, _got it?”_

“Yes. Yes I understand.”

“Yes, _what?”_

“Yes… Sir.”

He whipped his head around. “Blondie?”

JJ closed her eyes. She was loathe to give this man what he wanted to hear, but stronger than that was her instinct to protect her friend from as much harm as she could. She opened her eyes again to find Emily’s locked on her own. With a slow breath, she replied, “Yes sir. I understand.”

As quick as it took her to blink, Damien’s expression flipped to one JJ might have seen on her own son’s face if she brought him into a Lego store. With a big, cheesy grin and wild eyes, JJ watched helplessly as he put his entire free hand on Emily’s face and shove her head back into the wall behind her with a sickening thunk. 

Equally as quick, in one large bound the unsub was back in JJ’s face. His posture swayed around like a predator playing with its prey. He leaned in close, his body mere millimeters from JJ, but not quite touching. It was still too close for comfort; the agent could smell his sweat and cigarette smoke, and also strangely a hint of cinnamon. 

She could knee him in the groin; at this proximity it would take no effort at all. But then she’d be utterly useless with her hands still cuffed to the ceiling, already going numb. Even ten seconds ago she could have relied on Emily to grab the knife while he flinched, but that hit to her head had sent her to the ground. In such a state there was not a chance she could get to the knife before he retaliated. 

No, they were really and truly fucked.

Still all up in JJ’s personal space, the unsub grabbed the right side of her face and pressed his nose into her hair, inhaling loudly. “Beautiful.”

JJ began unconsciously profiling the man in front of her to emotionally distance herself from the situation. _He is high out of his mind, that much is clear. But he also must be suffering from some kind of psychotic break. After all, sane people don’t go kidnapping FBI agents. Particularly when they’re as disorganized as he is…_

Damien had once again returned to Emily, who had pulled herself back up into a standing position, but barely. She leaned against the wall for support, clutching the back of her head with her left hand. 

He slapped her, sending the agent back to the ground. He placed his foot on top of Emily’s chest, pressing down hard. Emily gasped for air, but received no satisfaction. Her hands desperately moved to his foot, trying with all her might to push it off of her. JJ wanted to scream at him, but she knew the brunette could take this much. Besides, the unsub’s M.O. involved keeping his captors alive for weeks. He wouldn’t let Emily run out of air. Not yet at least. 

And sure enough, after about a minute of his foot on her chest, and her fighting to push it off, Emily was rewarded with a rush of breath when Damien finally stepped away. JJ was worried though, for the first time she could see blood coming from the back of Emily’s head where the man had banged it into the wall. It must be worse than she had originally thought. 

She did not have time to dwell on this however, as the brunette was only allowed a couple deep breaths before Damien kicked his foot into the older woman’s gut. Emily grunted as what little wind she had was knocked right back out of her.

Kick after kick, Damien continued to abuse the woman as she wriggled about. He avoided catching her in the head (which she had her arms up protecting anyway), but everywhere else seemed to be fair game. JJ lost count after ten, and she was certain she’d heard at least one bone cracking. Emily’s screams, which had evolved into sobs, began to quiet down until the slams of his foot against the woman’s body were met with only silence. She had fallen unconscious, and yet the unsub did not lighten up. JJ could not take it anymore.

“Stop! Please! You’re killing her!” JJ cried. 

“There. Was. Only. One. Rule!” Damien punctuated each word with another assault on the fallen agent. 

He then stopped with his foot mid-swing, huffing as if he had just ran a marathon. His smile returned as he strutted towards the blonde. His hand was in her hair suddenly, pulling her head back to an almost right-angle. JJ grimaced from the strain in her neck, and as he leaned in she could no longer smell any cinnamon coming from the man, only sweat and his appalling breath as his heart must still be pounding from the effort of beating up her best friend. Her ears tingled as he whispered, “You’re next.”


End file.
